Tag Archives: gay events

Crossing the Line: LGBTQ+ History Month 28/2/25

We are delighted to bring Aberration back to the magnificent Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth with ‘Crossing the Line’, programmed especially for LGBTQ+ History Month.

We’ve put together an amazing evening of stories and film, facts and fabulousness for you all. Programme below. Edrych ymlaen!

Aberration presents Crossing The Line

An evening for LGBTQ+ History Month Friday 28 February 6.30-10pm, Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth. Tickets: £8 early bird (plus 80p booking fee) or £10 on the door.

Early bird tickets from Outsavvy: link.outsavvy.com/crossing

Aberration will be taking a journey around Ceredigion and beyond, including queer and trans Celtic history and mythology and some of the characters and events on our Ceredigion LGBTQ+ timeline. We are also proud to be hosting the Wales launch of a new book, 3000 Lesbians Go to York, about a much-loved national arts festival. The evening ends with a new film celebrating Aberration’s own contribution to Welsh LBGTQ+ culture and arts over more than ten years.

PROGRAMME

6.30    Doors open: Come and have a look at the Ceredigion Timeline and add your stories.

7pm Welcome from your Aberration hosts, Helen Sandler, Jane Hoy and Ruth Fowler

Dr Cheryl Morgan: In Search of Trans Celts

Cheryl will look at evidence from archaeology, Roman writers, and Arthurian legend, to see what we can tell about how our ancestors saw gender.

7.30pm   Queering the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi: power, resistance, and desire

This talk by Colin Audigé-Soutter, based on his MA thesis, illuminates the potential queer undercurrents pulsing through one of Celtic literature’s most enigmatic narratives.

8pm  INTERVAL  Refreshments and Bar, Raffle for All Out &  another opportunity to add your story to the Ceredigion Timeline

8.30   The Ceredigion Timeline: an interactive journey

Norena Shopland describes the background to the Timeline – a project to record the LGBTQ+ history of every county in Cymru. Jane Hoy introduces some of Ceredigion’s queer characters and events with friends of Aberration reading their words.

9pm   Three Thousand Lesbians Go To York

Jane Traies will launch her lavishly illustrated new book about the lesbian arts festivals that drew crowds of thousands in the Noughties. She will talk about the research and the forthcoming film. Aberration’s own Helen Sandler, publisher of the book, will facilitate a discussion with Jane and Mid Wales locals who went to York Lesbian Arts Festival (YLAF).

9.30    Aberration: a celebration

FILM PREMIERE! Ruth, Helen and Jane of Aberration show Amy Daniel’s new short film about Aberration’s first decade, discuss why they commissioned it and invite questions and discussion.

10pm Ends


The Land of Might Have Been 16/10/24

[PAST EVENT]

Wednesday 16 October 2024 at Aberystwyth Arts Centre ~ Music Theatre Wales in association with Aberration present:

Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts
+ The Land of Might Have Been

CYMRAEG >>

ENGLISH: New performances mark the centenary of Edward Prosser Rhys winning the 1924 Eisteddfod Crown – and the backlash against his poem, ‘Atgof’, which depicted desire for both women and men.

Tickets

TICKETS from Aberystwyth Arts Centre here >>
Discount if you select ‘Aberration Member’ from price list, after choosing your seats. Yes, if you are reading this you are an honorary Aberration member!

10% off food in cafe with your ticket. Special 1920s-themed martinis and gins in bar.

Programme

The evening will be presented in two parts (with interval) and across two spaces:

6.30pm to 7.30pm Great Hall – The Land of Might Have Been

Presented by Aberration, the Mid Wales LGBTQ+ arts company. Come with us through the portal into the mysterious Land of Might Have Been. It’s the 1920s: a time of inverts and androgyny, flirtation and endless possibilities. What wisdom might our queer Welsh ancestors have passed on to Edward Prosser Rhys and his intimate circle of friends? The answers wing in through words, music and a touch of star-gazing. Performed mainly in English

Cast: Colin Audigé-Soutter, Jane Hoy, Simon Robson, Helen Sandler Musician: Ruth Gordon
Butler: Ruth Fowler Design & Production: Jenny Pearce Written, researched & directed
by Jane Hoy with Helen Sandler

Diolch yn fawr: Becky Mitchell (TFTS), Mike Parker, Music Theatre Wales, Music @ Aber, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wynnstay Machynlleth

8pm to 9pm Theatr y Werin – 
Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts

Presented by Music Theatre Wales, Bwystfilod Aflan / Unclean Beasts challenges societal norms through music, dance and film, spotlighting the clash between tradition and the need for change. Eddie Ladd offers her own interpretation of the original poem through movement, followed by a new operatic monologue by Conor Mitchell, performed by tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas. Created and directed by Jac Ifan Moore, this is a National Eisteddfod commission with Music Theatre Wales and Aberystwyth University Music Centre, performed with Sinfonia Cymru.

‘A little gem of a show’ – Barn magazine

Performed in Welsh with captions in English

Get your tickets now for this unique double bill >>

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Event Calendar

DIGWYDDIADAU CYFFROUS

Friday 26 July 6pm Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum
Exhibition visit, artist talks, film and discussion around the exhibition ‘For the Curious and Interested’, led by Voices from the Edge. With Rose Thorn and Abid Hussain. Read more >>

and the next day…
Saturday 27 July 11am to 3pm Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales
‘Peace of Writing’ – Creative writing workshop led by historian Norena Shopland and our own Jane Hoy, inspired by the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition of 1923-24. Details >>

Saturday 3 August Plas Newydd, Llangollen
Queer Tales from Wales present ‘An Extraordinary Female Affection: The life and love of the Ladies of Llangollen’. An entertaining promenade performance in the grounds of the very house where the ladies lived two hundred years ago. With afternoon tea! Details >>

Friday 16 August Aberystwyth South Beach
Picnic after work – bring your own food and drink to this fun social event. Don’t forget a rug or folding chair to sit on too.

September: We’re taking a break – no event.

Wed 16 October Aberystwyth Arts Centre
A new operetta marks the centenary of Edward Prosser Rhys winning the Crown at the National Eisteddfod with his poem ‘Atgof’. And Aberration will host an intervention that turns a queer gaze on the poet and his circle.

Thurs 14 November Surprise event at Bank Vault!

Details of all above events to be announced soon on our website and socials!

www.aberration.org.uk @aberrationcymru

SPONSOR


We are grateful to Prifysgol Aberystwyth University for financial support for Aberration.

See you soon! Edrych ymlaen!

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Gay Gardeners’ Question Time

Aberration presents GAY! Gardeners’ Question Time at Bank Vault Bar, Aberystwyth on Thursday 25 April at 7pm. Doors open 6pm. Suggested payment on the door: £7 / £5 (but no one turned away for lack of funds, see below).

We bring you our very own Aberration tribute to the long-running Radio 4 show Gardeners’ Question Time ­­– with a queer twist! Our panel are three highly knowledgeable local gardeners, who also have a sense of fun. They are ready and willing to answer your questions about your own gardening, as well as telling us why they love getting down in the dirt. Whether you have a garden, an allotment, or just a straggly houseplant, you will enjoy this very special evening, which adds an LGBTQ+ slant to the world of horticulture. And non-gardeners are of course very welcome!

Questions

It would be great if you could email questions to aberrationcymru@gmail.com in advance, but there is also the option to bring them on the night. The panel will answer a selection.

The Panel

Alys Fowler is a well-known horticulturist who lives in Aberystwyth. A former presenter of Gardeners’ World on BBC2, Alys writes a regular column for the Guardian. Her popular books include The Thrifty Gardener, The Edible Garden (to accompany her TV series of the same name), and Hidden Nature. Alys is a regular attendee at Aberration and we are delighted that she will be chairing our “Gay Gardeners’ Question Time” panel. (Photo: Francesca Jones / Guardian)

Colin Audigé-Soutter (otherwise known as the gay gardener) is a self-taught gardener and landscaper working in and around the Dyfi Valley. He is happiest with a pair of secateurs in his hand and his head in a bush! Colin is originally from Conwy and was given his first plant, a Venus Flytrap, at the age of six. He learnt how to keep cacti and orchids from his grandmother in his teens. Since moving to Machynlleth in 2018, he has started the Houseplant Hospice and Cacti Against Covid; as well as working on market gardens and with the Mach Vegbox scheme, which supplies seasonal local produce. Since 2020 Colin has been running his own garden maintenance and landscaping business in the area.

Preds Tomos has been gardening in the Dyfi Valley all his life, first at his parents’ farm and subsequently in Machynlleth. For the past 13 years he has tended the garden of the old house near Darowen where he lives with his partner Mike. This special place was inherited from their dear old friends Reg and George, who were together more than 60 years. Preds’ sense of place – and of being the custodian of the land – drives all of his planting and design ideas, and inspires much of his artwork too.

Contributions

After a run of subsidised, free Aberration events at the Bank Vault, we now need to start asking for your contributions to cover costs, including paying our speakers and artists. Please contribute on the door if you can afford it. Suggested payments: £7 waged, £5 concession / low waged. Cards or cash accepted. If you don’t have funds right now, just say ‘Not today thank you’ on the door!

AllOut

Aberration will still collect for our favourite campaign, All Out, by passing the bucket round, so please bring cash to donate if you can. Or you can give to AllOut direct on their website >>

The All Out movement works with activists around the world to mobilise efforts to shut down hateful bigots, change anti-LGBT+ laws, and provide life-saving support to LGBT+ people facing emergencies.

Venue

Bank Vault is a lovely bar where we are made very welcome. They serve a fantastic range of craft beers, ciders, wine, and soft drinks. Please support them by buying drinks.

Ethos

This is a friendly LGBTQIA+ themed night, and all open-minded folk are welcome. Trans and non-binary people are of course very much part of our rainbow at Aberration. And just to be clear, straight allies are welcome too!

Sponsor

Aberration is grateful to Prifysgol Aberystwyth University for its generous support. Diolch yn fawr.

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Seasonal Social 14/12/23

[THIS EVENT HAS NOW PASSED]

Join us at the Bank Vault bar in Aberystwyth on Thursday 14 December for our Seasonal Social! Doors open 6pm. Games, reindeer, karaoke, stories and socialising! Join in as much or as little as you like. Bring friends or come alone.

Whether you love this time of year or prefer to ignore that it’s C—mas, there will be something jolly for you… possibly in a stocking.

Come along and enjoy a relaxed evening together in a festive atmosphere. Free! All LGBTQIA+ people & friends are welcome.

Bank Vault is a gorgeous venue that kindly welcomes Aberration without charge, so please support this lovely intimate bar in return by buying lots of drinks! They are well stocked including superb craft beers and soft drinks.

SPONSOR

Aberration is generously supported by Aberystwyth University.

Aim King 19/10/23

We are thrilled to welcome Aim King to Aberration at the Bank Vault – intimate bar venue in Aberystwyth. Doors 6pm, onstage around 7pm. Host Helen Sandler. Free Entry. Donations to All Out.

Prepare to be bathed in sound, as haunting new voice Aim King performs original spoken word over live beats from their new band. A unique evening!

Aim writes amazing lyrics that wash over you and evoke visions and emotions – unique but with an affinity with artists such as Arlo Parks or Kae Tempest, or going back in time Massive Attack and Tricky. You can have a listen to the stunning Liminal album here: https://aimking.bandcamp.com/album/liminal-l

Aim King is an ecologist, filmmaker, and poet, who grew up in London and is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD at Aberystwyth University. Through writing, they are interested in drawing together threads of inner and outer worlds, in accessing the collective heart-mind, and in making transitory feelings tangible. This year they released a spoken word album, entitled liminal(l), which explores the in-betweenness we exist within.

Bank Vault is a gorgeous venue that kindly welcomes Aberration without charge, so please support this lovely intimate bar in return by buying lots of drinks! They are well stocked including superb craft beers. Also please bring cash for donations to AllOut, the international campaigning charity that channels funds direct to LGBTQ+ projects at grassroots level.

Aberration is generously supported by Aberystwyth University.

Aberration x Queer Diary

13 July 2023, Bank Vault bar, Aberystwyth. 6pm doors, 7pm start

The popular Queer Diary night from ‘That London’ is on tour – and they’re coming to Aberystwyth especially for Aberration! People, get ready!

Ad for Queer Diary reads: Live teenage diary readings from live grown-up queers plus cringey poetry, GCSE artwork, thirsty fanfic and throwback soundtrack.

Would You Read Your Teenage Diary Aloud To A Room Full Of People?

A brave group of LGBTQIA+ folk are doing just that at Queer Diary – the night where queers share our teen angst (and joy, dreams, follies, and fabulousness). We can’t promise to reunite you with your first crush, but we do aim to reignite that rush of adrenaline you got when they first noticed you.  

In here the goths, the punks, the emos, the nerds, the glee-clubbers (and maybe a few populars?) come together as grown-ups, to escape cis-het-normativity by sharing our younger selves’ innermost thoughts via old diary entries, fanfiction stories, tumblr posts, and possibly the odd bit of cringey poetry!

Quick links:

Mae croeso i chi ddarllen yn Gymraeg – rhowch wybod i ni pan fyddwch yn cofrestru, a chrynhowch yn Saesneg ar ddechrau neu ddiwedd eich darlleniad os yn bosibl plis.

If your contribution is not in English – whether it’s in Welsh or another language – please let us know when signing up so we can facilitate your reading. It would be great if you could summarise in English if possible at the start or end of your reading.

Note: If you have registered to read then you don’t need to book a ticket. If you incur expenses you can claim them back from Queer Diary.

Don’t want to read? Come and listen!
We need an audience!

Please book if you possibly can, so that the fabulous Queer Diary presenter and producer, Beth and Josie, can share details with you!

TICKETS: Pay what you can – between zilch and £12 depending on your circumstances. Book via OutSavvy here >>

Poster for Queer Diary at Aberration featuring image of Beth Watson as host.

ACCESS: Ground floor bar. Wheelchair access by side door which bar staff will need to open for you. Let us know if you would like us to meet you outside at a specific time to make this easier. (Email aberrationcymru@gmail.com) There are two unisex toilets. We are sorry but the toilets are not accessible by wheelchair.

Ethos

This is an LGBTQIA+ themed night, and all open-minded folk are welcome. Trans and non-binary people are of course very much part of our rainbow at both Aberration and Queer Diary. Straight allies are welcome in the audience too.

Please note this event is themed around memories of teenage years gone by, and is aimed at adult audiences.

See you there! Edrych ymlaen!

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Aberration goes to town with Mike Parker

Reading and telling tales from his books and his colourful past!

Thurs 29 June 2023 Doors open 6pm for bar and chat, onstage around 7pm

Venue: Bank Vault bar, 1 New Street, Aberystwyth

Mike Parker by Ming de Nasty

Writer, broadcaster and friend of Aberration, Mike Parker, will read from his new book All the Wide Border – in which he walks the borderlands between Cymru and England. Mike also has some tales up his sleeve especially for the Aberration audience. Would you like to hear about when Mike met Lily Savage, when he kissed Dana International (the first trans Eurovision winner), when he admired the Cerne Abbas Giant (giant by name and giant by endowment), or just how he got his very gay house? Mike will entertain us with as many of these encounters as he has time for!

Mike is a fascinating and entertaining speaker, a witty wanderer who has queered travel writing and psycho-geography for the 21st century.

He is also an activist for Welsh independence and LGBTQ+ rights. In his previous book, On the Red Hill, Mike rewrote the history of the past 50 years via the heritage of his own house and the gay couple who lived there before. And before that, he stood for parliament and wrote about it in The Greasy Poll.

Mike previously co-wrote the first edition of The Rough Guide, came out as a Map Addict, and sailed round Wales in the TV series Coast to Coast (by boat) and Great Welsh Roads (by van).

About the night

Everyone is welcome at this edition of Aberration yn y Dre / Aberration Goes to Town. Just turn up on the night at the Bank Vault bar (1 New Street, Aberystwyth). We have an LGBTQ+ ethos, with trans people very much included. But you don’t have to be queer to be here – straight and cisgender people are welcome too. Just bring an open mind.

Come early from 6pm to get a good seat and have a drink and a chat. Free entry but please buy drinks to support our lovely venue – and bring some cash to get a personally signed copy of the book for yourself or a friend. Plus donation box for AllOut charity.

ACCESS: Ground floor bar. Wheelchair access by side door which bar staff will need to open for you. Let us know if you would like us to meet you outside at a specific time to make this easier. (Email aberrationcymru@gmail.com) There are two unisex toilets. We are sorry but the toilets are not accessible by wheelchair.

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History Month ’23 Calendar

Events in Cymru for ‘Long LGBTQ+ History Month’ involving Aberration or Queer Tales from Wales

March 2023 – Book now!

Tuesday 7 March, 5pm, National Library, Aberystwyth.
Queer Tales from Wales present ‘A Moral Amazon: The Story of Miss Amy Dillwyn’. A novelist, industrialist and cigar smoker, Miss Dillwyn also loved her friend Olive with all her heart. ? https://www.library.wales/visit/things-to-do/events

Sun 26 March, 2.30pm, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberration will be part of a screening at WOW Festival of A Home for My Heart. This kind and moving documentary follows Suvana Sudeb, an Indian trans woman, through the ups and downs of life with family, friends, lover and comrades. With Q&A.
https://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/cinema/wow-home-my-heart-15-short-film-mirrors

February 2023 (past events)

Sun 12 Feb, 12 noon, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff.
LezDiff celebrates History Month with films, talks and performances. Queer Tales appear with both ‘Queen of the Lake’ and ‘A Moral Amazon: The Story of Miss Amy Dillwyn’. Also on the bill are our friends Behind the Lines and Norena Shopland.
https://lezdiff.org/lgbtq-history-month-event/

Sat 18 Feb, 2.30pm, Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Aberration presents: Proud Writing Workshop with Norena Shopland – writing from history. Book early, limited to 15 places.

Sat 18 Feb, 7pm, Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
Aberration presents Dreaming Up the Past: Exciting evening of film, art, music and drama. With Cerys Hafana, Amy Daniel, Sarah-Joy Ford, Lost Knitters + Cranogwen.
https://www.aberration.org.uk/dreaming-up-the-past-18-2-23/

Thurs 23 Feb, 6pm, Conwy Museums & Archives.
Queer Tales from Wales present ‘Two Welshmen in Rome’ – the dramatised story of renowned sculptor John Gibson & his special friend Penry Williams. https://conwylibraries.com/events/out-and-about-lgbtq-history-month-celebration-event

Dreaming Up The Past

Bringing LGBTQ+ histories to life

Our tenth LGBTQ+ History Month! At Aberystwyth Arts Centre on 18 February 2023. Workshop, cafe, and evening event.

Supported by Aberystwyth University & National Library of Wales

Workshop

Please note: Proud Writing Workshop with Norena Shopland at 2pm has now sold out.

Dinner

5.30 to 6.30pm: All welcome to eat together in the Aberystwyth Arts Centre Café – pay as you go. Let us know if you want us to reserve a place in our space by emailing aberrationcymru@gmail.com

Dreaming Up the Past – The main event!

Tocynnau >> Tickets >> £10 / £8

Take your seats from 6.45pm with a welcome at 7pm from your host Helen Sandler.

Cerys Hafana – live music

Cerys Hafana (by Heledd Wynn)

Cerys Hafana is top of the bill! Cerys is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Machynlleth who mangles, mutates, and transforms traditional music. She explores the creative possibilities and unique qualities of the triple harp, and is also interested in found sounds, archive materials and electronic processing. Her latest release, Edyf, was Folk Album of the Month in the Guardian.

Especially for Aberration, Cerys has created ‘Queer as Folk’, by interviewing other LGBTQ+ musicians from around the UK and will be playing clips from these interviews as well as singing and playing live for us. A work in progress that has never been heard before!

“Cerys Hafana’s sound is simultaneously ancient in feel and yet impossibly, intriguingly modern. It is also in a field of its own; there is nothing else quite like this” – folkradio.co.uk

“Raw power” – Songlines

“A master of the Welsh triple harp… Hafana also sings movingly, her high voice like an indie-pop soprano shorn of its sweetness.” – Guardian

Behind the Lens – film and Q&A

Ysbrydion

Screening of Ysbrydion (Spirits) (Welsh with English subtitles), a stunning new short documentary by award-winning film director Amy Daniel. The film features four people sharing their experiences of growing up LGBTQ+ in rural Wales, imaginatively projected into the landscape. Followed by a panel discussion with Amy and participants.

Beloved – lesbian art

Sarah-Joy Ford

Sarah-Joy Ford will talk about her 2022 solo show Beloved: Crafting Intimacies with the Ladies of Llangollen at Plas Newydd. Created after a period of residency, the site-specific embroidered intervention was inspired by the deep and lifelong intimate relationship between the Ladies and the extraordinary home that they created together from 1780.

Sarah-Joy Ford is an artist researcher working with textiles to explore the complexities and pleasures of queer communities, histories and archives.

Tocynnau >> Tickets >>

The Lost Knitters of Tregaron – live theatre

Ruth Fowler as Cranogwen

The Lost Knitters take time out from their hard lives gathering wool, spinning and knitting to tell the story of their lives. Times are changing and they gossip about two local girls who cross-dress and have been immortalised in the street-corner ballad ‘Wel Lanciau’. 

Then Sarah-Jane Rees – often known by her bardic name Cranogwen – visits to answer their questions. Wondering what to do with your life? Cranogwen has the answer!

Cranogwen (1839-1916) was a writer, sailor, lecturer, and editor of the women’s magazine Y Frythones. Her relationships with women sustained and inspired her. She comes back to life this evening for your edification and delight.

Donations

Please bring cash for donations to AllOut, the international campaigning network that supports LGBTQ+ people wherever their rights and safety are threatened.

Croeso cynnes

All welcome. The evening is suitable for adults and young people interested in LGBTQ+ lives and history. Aberration is a trans-positive space. Event partly in English, partly in Welsh with English subtitles. The venue has good disabled access.

Book now!

Tickets >>

Tocynnau >>

Cefnogir gan / Supported by

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